I Hate Being Sick
Certain Methods
Word Count: 2,531
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/Characters: Okay, definitely going down the Dani/Nico route, definitely some Harriet/Bud. Not sure about the Harm/Mac angle yet. But Chegwidden features heavily/centrally to the story, too.
Spoilers: Although I reference something from 1x12, I'm actually going to set this after 1x10 for Necessary Roughness. For JAG? Um... season two, definitely related to that season. Specifically "Secrets" and "Ghosts," and a lot of this won't make sense if you don't know those eps. Otherwise, the spoilers/timeline from JAG is kind of... vague.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just break things.
Summary: Direct, indirect. Legal, illegal. Military, Civilian. Every person has a different method for handling situations. Some are better than others.
Author's Note: Good and bad, funny and not...
Highs and Lows
"Daddy? Or should I call you Dad? I think I like Daddy better, personally," Juliette said, making the mattress bounce as she moved around, leaning over the side and then jumping up to crowd his face. Nico looked at her, frowning. What was this? He was still dreaming, wasn't he? That was the only real answer, because Juliette was not... No, she was there. The bouncing was real. Real and obnoxious.
"What are you doing, Juliette?"
She grinned at him. He was starting to get concerned. The last time he'd seen her like this, she was high. It had taken him the better part of two days to get her down, get her clean, and then he knew he shouldn't leave her, but he'd had no choice. He didn't understand how she could have gotten to anything here, though. The safe house had no drugs. "They tried to take my candy away, so then I emptied the rest of the bag into my mouth, and that was after the pancakes drenched in syrup and the kool-aid."
Nico groaned. Sometimes he thought that her behavior in a manic phase like this was worse than the drugs. "Who let you have that much sugar? You haven't acted like this since you were ten."
"Ten!" She cried, rolling over and putting her head on his stomach as she sighed. "I miss being ten. Being ten was easy. And fun. It was a lot more fun than this."
He started pushing her off of him, but she turned around in his grasp and tapped a finger on his chest. "Hey, if you really are my father, can we go do fun things that fathers and daughters are supposed to do? We should so crash a father-daughter dance and play mini golf and go to a fair where you can win me something big, ugly and stuffed."
Nico shook his head. He did not want to deal with this right now. He caught sight of Santino in the doorway, not liking the smile on her face. Clearly, this amused her, and she would not intervene any time soon. Fine. He would handle Juliette on his own, though if this was how Santino let her patient act... He prodded the girl off of him, and she rolled to the other side of the bed, making it bounce again.
"Juliette, why don't you find your uncle AJ and get him to help you put that energy to work?" Santino finally suggested, moving into the room. Juliette looked like she might pout, but she caught the look on the doctor's face and sighed instead. "You know that your father is supposed to be resting."
Nico was done resting. He had things to do now. He sat up, decided the pain in his side was tolerable and started to get up. "I have to-"
"You are going to stay put and rest, Santino ordered, and he found himself glaring at her again. Juliette giggled as she left the room. At least that was finished.
"I don't need rest. I have things to do. We need to see what Rabb and Mackenzie have learned."
"That is going to wait," Santino insisted. "AJ can handle that after he gets Juliette calmed down. You are staying here, and we are going to have a talk."
Absolutely not. He was not having any kind of discussion now. "I am not in the mood to talk."
"I can bring your daughter back in here if you prefer," she warned. He shook his head. Juliette on a sugar high was almost as bad as her on PCP. "That's what I thought. You owe me an apology, at the very least."
"I am not apologizing. I don't know why you think I would."
Santino shook her head. "You have done your best to push me away since this thing started, and it may be that you think distance will keep either of us safe, but you are wrong, for one thing, and even if it did, you do not have the right to make judgments about my personal life in front of everyone. Just because Matt is single again doesn't mean I'm running back to him."
"In this circumstance, perhaps not," Nico agreed quietly. She couldn't, not at the moment. She had to stay here and stay safe. If not for that, though, things would be different. "In another, you would do so all too quickly."
"I don't know what kind of a fool you think I am, Nico, but you do not know that."
"Don't I?" he countered, meeting her gaze. "My job is ninety percent observation. I see plenty. I make judgment calls daily, and I am not a fool, either."
"Aren't you? You think no one gives a damn about you, but you have AJ and Juliette and Marcie and Xeno and the whole damn team! And I am not interested in Matt, you idiot! I was, but I have been hurt enough by the ones that don't stay, the ones that cheat. No, it might not have been fair to expect him to wait, but he didn't. Whereas you have been waiting very patiently despite your conviction that you would never have a chance to play even if you thought you were worthy of that chance. Guess what? You can be a real bastard sometimes, but that doesn't mean that you're not worthy of love. Maybe if someone had shown you more of that you wouldn't be so wounded now."
He stared at her. Her words implied something that he had not anticipated and didn't know how to react to. "Danielle-"
She climbed onto the bed and kissed him, and he closed him eyes for a moment, knowing he should push her away. This could not happen.
"Nico, we need to move. Rabb and Mackenzie connected a name from your list to Osborne's current location."
Santino cursed. Nico looked over at the door. "As usual, sir, your timing is lousy."
"Suck it up, Lieutenant. We have an opportunity to end this, and we are going to do it."
"Report," Chegwiddin ordered, walking into the room. He took a look around him, and shook his head in disapproval. "Actually, begin with what the hell he's doing here."
Webb glared at the admiral and Careles. Mac smiled a little, and Harm almost laughed. This should be interesting. After the way Webb had reacted when he showed up at Harm's room, Harm was looking forward to the two former SEALs putting him in his place. Even the admiral would have been enough, but two was better than one.
"The hell are you doing with this?" Webb demanded, taking it right to Careles and waving it in his face, which was most likely a bad idea. Harm wouldn't blame the former SEAL for breaking something at this point. "This is government property, highly classified."
"No, that is private property, a prototype with a registered patent," Careles disagreed. He smiled tightly as Webb continued to sputter. "Now I'd like to get back to AJ's question. Why are you here?"
"Your-well, Major Mackenzie and Commander Rabb's inquiries into a few names drew a few red flags. A lot of them, actually. Where did you get this list?"
Careles smiled again as he sat down in the chair he'd used last night. This time he looked a lot better, though. "I have sources of my own, Webb."
"That include the head of the crime family that controls half the eastern seaboard?"
"Have you met my cousin, then?" Careles asked, somewhat surprised. "Well, second cousin once removed, I should say. Still a cousin, I guess."
Harm looked at him. Was Careles kidding? He was related to that guy? To a man who controlled crime family? Bud had mentioned a mob connection, but Harm had thought it was a joke. He turned to Mac, and she shrugged. It really wasn't that big of a deal, was it? It was just another part of Careles' ever growing myth, and they weren't going to know all of them, ever. She had a better attitude about it, honestly.
"Your cousin? What about your father?" Webb asked, folding his arms over his chest. Careles looked at him blankly, pretending he didn't know what the other man was saying. "Didn't he control most of Pennsylvania once?"
Careles shrugged. "I wouldn't know."
"Right."
"Can we focus on what we found with Osborne?" Mac interrupted, trying to bring the conversation back to what they were all here for, one way or another. "We may have the answer to who put him in play, who let him threaten Careles and his people, and who got those men killed."
Careles no longer pretended to be disinterested. "What's the name?"
Webb frowned. "You're not planning on going off alone, are you?"
"I am bait. I have to be alone. And we already discussed the reasons why I would never accept protection from your agency, Mr. Webb. Especially not from you," Careles said as he got to his feet. "You have two hours. I will get Osborne's attention and draw him away from his possible protector. I need proof that there's a connection."
"Someone should be backing you up, Careles. If not one of us, than one of your people. You were injured last night. And before that," Harm insisted. He looked at the admiral. Wasn't Chegwidden going to convince his friend that he needed to take care of himself? At least some proper precautions were in order. "We can't afford to lose you, you know."
"Well, it is difficult without the bait, admittedly-"
"Hell, Nico, I know you have something to finish when we get back. Seems to me you were complaining about my timing?"
"You're not invited to the wedding, AJ," Careles muttered as he rose. "Francesca, yes; you, no. That reminds me. I should invite your ex-wife. Now then I'd really be dead between my daughter, yours, your ex-wife, and the good doctor, but it would be amusing for a while, wouldn't it?"
Chegwidden just shook his head. "You are certifiable, Lieutenant."
"The woman in question is a therapist. I wonder how that fits into things..."
"She'd kick your ass if she heard that," the admiral told him, opening the door. Webb shook his head as he watched them.
"What is wrong with you people? Do you really operate like this?"
"I wouldn't know," Mac said, grabbing her coat. "I'm a marine and a lawyer, not a doctor."
"Cute. Real cute."
"You think this is him?"
Mac looked over at Harm, not sure how to answer that. It seemed too soon, too fast, too easy. If that was the case, though, Osborne was baiting them, and the traps were already set to go off. Careles had looked a little better today than the night before, but he still was running on fumes and injuries, and while soldiers could overcome incredible odds, the man was still taking too many risks. Especially with something to come back to. "I don't know, Harm. It doesn't feel right."
"Maybe it isn't. Osborne could have found the tracker Careles planted, even with the security measures it supposedly has or maybe it was the list. Maybe our interest in those names-combined with whoever gave them to Careles in the first place-was enough to put Osborne on the same trail," Harm began, thinking aloud as they walked up to the fence. The plans had suggested this was a blind spot in the man's defenses, but the place was still a fortress, and they hadn't had much time to prepare for this.
Mac looked at Harm. "Do you think that Osborne doesn't know who his protector is and is looking for the same man?"
"I doubt it. He had to have something to hold over the man's head to keep himself alive, right?"
"Would you two stop chatting and get over the fence already? We don't have a lot of time here," Webb barked in their earpieces. Harm gave her a look, and Mac tried not to laugh. They had waited until they knew Osborne was gone, and she found it rather surprising that Webb was using Careles' time table, given the hostility between the two men.
Harm laced his fingers together, creating a foothold for her and boosting her up enough to let her scale the wall. She dropped down to the other side, waiting for signs of the other security. Harm dragged himself over, struggling a bit, and when she looked at him, he shrugged. "What? It's not like I had someone to help me over."
"Don't be a baby, squid."
"I'm not, jarhead."
"I'm not seeing any activity from any of the security guards. Looks like you have a straight path inside. Don't waste your time out there."
Harm gave Mac a look, and she nodded. "Webb, do you have any readings on anything at this point? Did we get here after Osborne had finished his work? Is anyone else even alive?"
Webb was quiet for a moment, checking the readings from his monitors and feeds. Harm started to move forward, and Mac went with him, watching for signs of activity. She didn't like this. She was getting the feeling that everyone here might already be dead, and if they were, she and Harm were walking into something they didn't want to be in the middle of.
"I'm not getting anything. They might be down or they might be gone or they might be dead. You seeing anything? Or anyone?"
"Not so far," Harm answered, getting close to the house. "The security system has definitely been bypassed, then? We've got no real way of knowing what's in here until we come across it."
"Pretty much. I can't give you anything from here. I'm seeing clear screens and no blips. Nothing on infrared-and that includes you. Meaning someone has tampered with the security system," Webb finished. "This could be a trap. Osborne may have led you right into it."
"Contact the admiral or Careles if you can," Mac said, reaching into her jacket for her gun. "We'll keep looking."
Harm took out his side arm, moving to check the first room. Mac waited. He drew back, shaking his head. "Still empty. I don't like this, Mac. We're not going to find anything good-and that's if something or someone doesn't find us first."
"This is a lot of people to kill, a lot of questions to answer," she began, but she didn't like it anymore than he did. "What do you think? Rigged gas main?"
"If it is, we don't have a lot of time."
"Then maybe you should both get out of there. We can call in a team equipped to deal with whatever's in there and whatever trap Osborne left behind-"
"Too late for that," Mac said as they reached the next room. She shook her head as she took in a sight that would haunt her for the rest of her life, even after everything she'd already seen and done. "You can notify the authorities, but Osborne is done here. He probably didn't do this on his own, but that doesn't matter. Everyone's dead."
Chapter Sixteen